Increasing significantly the failure strain and work of fracture of solidification processed AZ31B using nano-Al2O3 particulates

In the present study, AZ31B magnesium alloy was unified with three different volume fractions of 50-nm Al2O3 particulates using the technique of disintegrated melt deposition. Composite samples were then subsequently hot extruded and characterized. Microstructural characterization studies revealed equiaxed grain structure, minimal porosity, reasonably uniform distribution of Al2O3 nano-particulates and good matrix-reinforcement interfacial integrity. The presence of Al2O3 particulates assisted in improving the thermal stability, microhardness and ductility of AZ31B alloy while 0.2%YS and UTS decreased. The overall tensile properties assessed in terms of work of fracture improved more than four times as a result of presence of 1.5 vol.% of Al2O3 nano-particulates. An attempt is made to correlate the effect of amount of Al2O3 nano-particulates on the microstructure and properties of AZ31B magnesium alloy.